Topeka City Council to take up community improvement district, CIB projects

Shawnee County Commission won't meet Monday

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The Topeka City Council on Tuesday is slated to hold a public hearing and vote on a new community improvement district.

The Shawnee County Commission won’t meet Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The council, which meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in its chambers in City Hall, 214 S.E. 8th, deferred action on the district for the past two weeks. The community improvement district is located between S.W. 11th and 12th streets, just west of Wanamaker Road.

Approval would impose a 1 percent tax on retail sales and services within the district and issue special obligation bonds to finance redevelopment. The tax would be in effect for as long as 22 years, with revenue going to reimburse private funding that would finance improvements that are part of a $22.6 million Crosswinds Commons development proposed by Overland Park-based Christie Development Associates LLC.

Council members also are expected to consider approving a $530,000 project budget to construct a burn training facility for the Topeka Fire Department. Total debt service from the general obligation bonds used to pay for the 1,100-square-foot, two-story metal addition to the concrete training tower would come to $814,887 over 20 years.

Tuesday’s agenda also includes seven project budgets in either or both the 2013 and 2014 capital improvement budgets, including the following:

■ $1.4 million to authorize neighborhood infrastructure improvements in the Central Highland Park and Hi-Crest target areas. The general obligation bonds would hold a total debt service of $1.9 million paid during 20 years.

■ $3.5 million to authorize final design and the first phase of construction for improvements on S.W. 37th Street from Burlingame Road to Gage Boulevard. The general obligation bonds would hold a total debt service of $4.8 million over 20 years.

■ Multiple traffic safety and improvement project budgets, including $640,000 to replace traffic signals at five locations, $370,000 to improve safety in the city’s transportation network and $200,000 for design of improvements on S.E. California Avenue from 33rd to 37th streets.

■ $180,000 for neighborhood infrastructure improvements within the city of Topeka, including on N.W. Lyman Road between Old Soldier Creek and N.W. Topeka Boulevard and $150,000 for citywide infill sidewalk projects. General obligation bonds issued to fund the two project budgets come to $247,604 and $206,336, respectively, over 20 years.